A shipshape collection of seaworthy puns from John Lampkin today! I like this group better than last week's wine puns. And now I want to rewatch Master and Commander. Love that movie.

I'd single out ANCHOR MANAGEMENT and BUOYS WILL BE BUOYS as my favorite theme entries, but none of them made me wince. If I have one complaint, it's that ACE IN THE HOLD sounds better to me than ACE IN THE HULL, and the clue makes sense either way. In fact, I liked HOLD so much, that I had a bit of trouble finishing up that section of the puzzle.

Bullets:

1A: Sax object? (ALTO). I don't really understand this clue. An "alto" isn't an object. Maybe the object of an alto sax is to make an alto sound. Any theories?

22A: South, in a north wind (ALEE). Another nautical reference. I wonder if John tried to come up an ALEE theme entry. "Poet Frost on the safe side?"

29A: "When I Take My Sugar to ___": 1931 hit (TEA). I was curious about this song, and I found an original 1931 recording on YouTube. Interesting and kinda catchy, but I thought it would sound more like Def Leppard's "Pour Some Sugar on Me."

45A: "I'd like to buy ___" (AN I). I wonder how Joon would do on Wheel of Fortune. He wouldn't make much money, because he'd solve every puzzle before any letters were guessed.

54A: Five-O booking agent (DANO). "Book 'em, Dano!" There was some discussion among crossword constructors a while back about whether the name is spelled "Dano" or "Danno." Apparently the Hawaii Five-O writers weren't consistent with the spelling. So you'll see "Danno" in a puzzle every now and then.

115A: How many nightclubs are lit (DIMLY). My first thought: "All of them."

127A: Lane associate (OLSEN). Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen. Remember that time Superman made him marry an ape?

25D: Classical guitar family name (ROMERO). New to me. From Wikipedia: "Los Romeros is a guitar quartet, sometimes known as 'The Royal Family of the Guitar.' Their personnel consists entirely of members of the Romero family."

41D: Home, metonymically (HEARTH). Metonymy is a figure of speech in which a thing or concept is not called by its own name, but by the name of something intimately associated with it. For example, "Hollywood" is used as a metonym for the movie industry, and "The White House" is a metonym for the Presidency.

72D: Toondom's Princess of Power (SHE-RA). He-Man's twin sister. Shouldn't she be called She-Woman? And which one do you think has the prettier hairstyle?

118D: Intoxicating letters? (BYO). As in BYOB, Bring Your Own Booze/Bottle. When I throw a party, I tell people to "BYO" food, booze, chairs, and entertainment. Why should I do all the work?

I'm sure that some of you don't have to work on Columbus Day, so enjoy the three-day weekend. But don't forgot to watch Joon on Jeopardy! on Monday. He's a juggernaut.